Elizabeth Forward School Board hires project manager to oversee demolition of auditorium
ELIZABETH, Pa. (KDKA) — The Elizabeth Forward School Board has hired a construction expert to coordinate the demolition of the high school's auditorium.
It's been weeks since a devastating fire destroyed the high school's auditorium, forcing the district to go to remote learning. Brianna Johnston, a sophomore at the high school, says her grades are suffering.
"It's terrible because you are just in a Zoom for like 30 minutes and periods are 40 minutes," she said.
At a special meeting Tuesday, the school board approved the hiring of a project manager, David Macioce. The Elizabeth Township resident has 40 years of experience in the construction business.
"He is now brought in to deal with the demolition and the readiness of the building," Elizabeth Forward Superintendent Keith Konyk said. "That's his purpose right now is to deal with getting that building cleaned, with our goal to have kids back in the building. That's the purpose of this individual."
Konyk says Macioce will oversee the high school's restoration project, including the demolition of the auditorium and any other restoration.
There are two sections of the building: the auditorium that caught fire and below the auditorium, where officials want to check to see if utilities are working. On Wednesday, the plan is to check the switch gear, which brings power to the building.
The other portion of the project is cleaning up the remainder of the school building that sustained smoke damage. A company is going room to room to assess the situation.
Right now, the district is not giving a definitive timeline of when students can return but stresses that's the goal.
"It gets cleaner everyday," Konyk said. "So again, it's impossible to make any estimation about when it will be ready."
The superintendent says once officials get the information on that switch gear, they will alert parents on the next step.
No word on the cause of the fire.
